THE 2018 fixtures for the Horsham District Football and Netball League were confirmed at the league’s annual general meeting on Wednesday evening.

The season will kick off on April 7 and the interleague fixture is set for May 19 against the Warrnambool District Football League in Warrnambool.

The grand final rematch against Harrow Balmoral and Southern Mallee Giants will take place on June 16 in round nine.

This is the third and final year of the league’s rolling three year fixture in which every team plays each other the same amount of times over the three year period.

The previous two seasons featured a 16-round draw, with 2018 to feature an extended 18-round fixture.

Chairman Graeme King said the aim of the rolling fixture has been to ensure absolute fairness across the competition.

“Over the three years each club plays each team the same amount of times,” Mr King said.

“It’s purely fair for every team.”

Despite the extra two rounds, the season will still start and finish on the same weekends as the 2017 season, with Easter falling before the start of the season and no bye scheduled for July.

Mr King also said the league was looking forward to welcoming back Geoff Burdett to coach the interleague match on May 19.

Burdett led the Horsham District team to victory last season against the Colac and District Football League.

“We won last season and Geoff did really well,” Mr King said.

“His knowledge of football is excellent. He has been a successful local coach and is a really good communicator. Our interleague game is run on a volunteer basis, and he is really good at getting players to volunteer.”

Mr King said he was looking forward to a positive 2018 season and that early signs pointed to increased quality across the league.

“We’ve had a lot of good players sign with clubs so far,” Mr King said.